"Teachers are now required to report incidents of racist abuse among children as young as three to local authorities, resulting in a massive increase of cases and reinforcing the perception that we need an army of experts to manage race relations from cradle to grave."

Official figures just published show that ten successful legal claims are being mounted every week in schools, with parents and pupils often gaining hefty cash payouts as a result of threats to sue over even the most minor grievances. In one case, a Doncaster pupil was awarded £2,000 after being exposed to bright light during a ­science experiment. In another case, a Surrey pupil was awarded £29,000 after he said he had suffered burns from sitting on a hot radiator.

Altogether, £2.25 million was dished out last year to meet compensation demands in schools -- money that would have been far better spent in the classroom.